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Celtic have had plenty of consistent goalscorers in their ranks over the past few years, such as Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons and Odsonne Edouard among others.

However, it seems as though the Parkhead club could have had another figure in their ranks who may have gone on to become a significant scorer for them but didn’t end up making the move to Celtic Park.

According to an article from Planet Football, back in the 2001 summer transfer window when the Hoops signed winger Momo Sylla from St Johnstone, the Guinean was asked by his former Le Mans team-mate Didier Drogba about a potential move to Celtic the following summer.

Unfortunately for Celtic, Sylla apparently told the striker that he wouldn’t have any chance of making it into the team and should forget about trying to join them.

With a total of 686 club appearances under his belt, the Ivory Coast international ended his career in 2018 with 300 goals to his name and four Premier League titles, four FA Cups and one Champions League title under his belt among other trophies and individual awards.

Labelled a “remarkable” player by his former Blues boss Jose Mourinho – who knows a good footballer when he sees one having managed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Karim Benzema among many others – Drogba could have been a revelation for Celtic had Sylla not put him off a potential move to Glasgow early in the Ivorian’s lengthy and very successful career.

Whether the Parkhead hierarchy had any knowledge at the time over Drogba’s interest in a potential move to the club is unclear, but it’s safe to say that had they known of it, then they should have moved heaven and earth to get the striker in a Hoops shirt.

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Looking back, there could now be some Celtic fans displeased with what Sylla had to say to the young Drogba about his chances of breaking into the first team at the time, with the club potentially now having nightmares over the situation.

In other news: Ange must brutally axe “horrendous” £20k-p/w Celtic liability, he’s “been a disaster”

	Dwayne Bravo’s move to the top of the order was a success on day four as he reached 46 © AFP

John Dyson, the West Indies coach, believes a record-breaking chase of 437 is possible for the hosts as they dream of a 1-0 lead in the series with Sri Lanka. West Indies chopped 96 from the target for the loss of Devon Smith as Dwayne Bravo, the stand-in opener, and Ramnaresh Sarwan combined for a 74-run stand.”We will wait and see what happens [on the final morning] and see how things pan out,” Dyson said. “History says that it is possible to get a total like that and it has been done in the West Indies before so you never put that totally out of the question. I think all teams these days look to win wherever possible and if the opportunity to win comes along then we will look to take it.”Chris Gayle, the captain, dropped to No. 4 so he could employ the attacking instincts of Bravo and the move has been a success so far. “Chris felt that it was a good chance to have a change in this innings,” Dyson said. “He feels that Bravo is a very positive player and also having a left-hand, right-hand opening combination in this innings was something we were thinking about.”Dyson was impressed with the returns of Bravo, who was 46, and Sarwan (34). “They handled the last session very, very well,” he said. The coach said the surface remained a “batsman’s paradise” although the Sri Lankans believe it is tricky for run-scoring.Another strong performance came from the left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who picked up 3 for 59 before Sri Lanka declared at 240 for 7. “I thought he bowled very, very well for his first Test,” Dyson said. “He came in, maintained a good line, a good length, he didn’t give away very many easy runs at all, and I was really pleased.”I felt sorry for him that he didn’t take a wicket in the first innings, although there was one opportunity missed form his bowling. I was pleased that he has come out there again and bowled pretty well.”

Simon Francis is giving county cricket another crack © Getty Images

Nottinghamshire have signed former England A seamer Simon Francis to bolster a bowling attack which has lost Ryan Sidebottom to England and Andy Harris to injury.Francis, 28, goes straight into Nottinghamshire’s squad for the Friends Provident match against Derbyshire on Monday after impressing during a pre-season trial period with the club.”We only had six seamers on the staff at the start of the season and with Ryan Sidebottom playing for England and AJ Harris injured,” said director of cricket Mick Newell.”We couldn’t operate with just four quick bowlers. Simon is an experienced bowler who has bowled well for us in the second XI this year and will give us cover in an area where we are thin. He can slot straight into the team if necessary and there’s every chance he will play on Monday.”Francis started his career with Hampshire before moving to Somerset in 2002. He toured Malaysia and India with England A in 2003-04 but limited Championship opportunities in 2006 led to his release.”After being released by Somerset I had to make plans for life away from cricket and it made me appreciate how lucky professional cricketers are,” said Francis, who has since worked in sales and marketing. “I didn’t want to get to the age of 33 and wish I had given county cricket one more go and my love for cricket has been reinvigorated in the last four months.”I’m determined to make the most of this opportunity but I’ve got no expectations beyond mucking in with the squad and doing my very best for Nottinghamshire over the rest of the season.”

Warwickshire 208 and 310 beat Durham 359 and 141 (Daggett 6-30) by 18 runs
Scorecard

Lee Daggett took the last five wickets to bring up a surprise win for Warwickshire – just in time for the football © Getty Images

Lee Daggett was a man with two missions – kill off Durham and make sure the game finished in time for the football. He did both, handing Warwickshire a surprise 18-run victory over Durham at Edgbaston with a six-wicket haul. In just his second first-team match, the 23-year-old Daggett knocked over the last five batsmen with his fast-medium pacers to end with 6 for 30 from 14.4 overs.It’s no surprise that it was Daggett who was the man for the job, being a keen football fan who has attended Bury’s Centre of Excellence in the past, and he also has previous as Durham’s nemesis. Two years ago, as a Durham UCCE player he took 8 for 94 to destroy their first innings. And now, in just his second first-class match for a county, he has destroyed them again – with 15 minutes to go before kick-off.Durham started the day needing just 98 runs with eight wickets in hand. It should have been a formality but once Heath Streak struck to remove Gary Pratt for 21, Warwickshire kept on striking and Durham lost their last seven wickets for 71.James Anyon, another product of the UCCE system (he was at Loughborough), took the next two wickets to fall but after that it was the Daggett show. By now Durham needed just 45 runs with five wickets, but they couldn’t rest on their laurels and folded in the face of some hostile Daggett fire.

Division Two

Neither match in the second division ate into the football either. Somerset had the good grace to fold for 313 against Worcestershire, who wrapped up a convincing ten-wicket win at Taunton. Worcestershire were made to bat again but Phil Jaques and Stephen Moore knocked off the 42 runs they needed in just 19 balls.Surrey wrapped up proceedings against Leicestershire at the Oval in plenty of time. For a full report on the final day of that match click here.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former Indian captain embroiled in a controversy surrounding the hunting of an endangered black buck, has surrendered before a Jhajjar Court in Haryana. Pataudi, accused of violating the Wildlife Protection Act, had been incommunicado for several days.Pataudi’s surrender comes a day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected his application for anticipatory bail, the Press Trust of India reported. Pataudi is among six accused in the alleged hunting of one black buck and two rabbits, but is the only involved in this case to surrender.Hanief Qureshi, a senior superintendent of police, said that the next course of action depended on the directions from the courts.The police had earlier conducted raids simultaneously in multiple locations in search of Pataudi, but had failed to find him. If convicted Pataudi faces a jail term of upto seven years and a fine of Rupees 25000.

Ehsan Mani – the ICC president has reminded the ECB that it cannot cancel on moral grounds © Getty Images

The England and Wales Cricket Board has finally received a letter from the Foreign Office outlining the government’s position regarding October’s scheduled tour of Zimbabwe.As was widely expected, the government has stopped short of actually saying that the tour cannot go ahead, but at least it has recommended that it doesn’t – albeit in phrases carefully constructed so as not to offer anything which could be construed as direct advice – and so the ECB now has to hope that will be enough for them to be able to pull out without incurring any sanction from the ICC.In the aftermath of the news about its new criteria for deciding whether tours should proceed, the ECB has been firmly reminded by the ICC that it has responsibilities and that moral objections are not a valid reason for scrapping a series. But governmental intervention is, as in the situation regarding India and Pakistan. There, it is at governmental level that a ban on the two sides has been made, and so the ICC has not interfered.The ECB is now being squeezed from both sides. Its own escape route – Des Wilson’s report – means that it has little choice but to call off the tour, unless it wants to attract a stinging public and sponsorship backlash; on the other hand the ICC are threatening financial penalties if it does pull out. The ECB ideally wanted the government to come down off the fence and give it firm direction, but the likelihood of that was always remote.Yesterday, the ICC upped the ante, with a source suggesting that an England boycott would not only result in fines, but that it would also mean that the ECB would be liable for consequential loss. So, if as a result of not touring Zimbabwe four countries boycotted the ICC Champions Trophy, then the ECB would also be liable to pay for the cost of that.

Central Districts will be without Lance Hamilton for their next State Championship match against Auckland to be played at Colin Maiden Park starting tomorrow.Hamilton was injured in the last match, against Northern Districts, and was not considered for selection.Martin Sigley has also been left out of the side while Tim Anderson, Greg Loveridge and Greg Todd have been added to the 12 for the match.The team is: Craig Spearman (captain), Tim Anderson, Bevan Griggs, Brent Hefford, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Greg Loveridge, Michael Mason, Jesse Ryder, Andrew Schwass, Glen Sulzberger, Greg Todd.

Hatton National Bank’s three-year dominance of the Mercantile ‘A’ division cricket title was ended at the NCC grounds on Wednesday evening when Seylan Bank defeated them easily by seven wickets to emerge League champions.HNB had won the `A’ division title four times in the past five years since 1996, and consecutively in the past three years. Seylan won it in 1997.The decisive match of the league saw Seylan dismiss HNB for 144 in 45 overs and knock off the runs in style using up 36 overs to pass the total.The architects of Seylan’s victory were national players Chaminda Vaas and skipper Mahela Jayawardene. Vaas ran through the top order picking up the first two wickets to have HNB struggling at 12 for 2 after they had won the toss and decided to bat first. The defending champs never recovered from that early loss off wickets and failed to put together any substantial partnership.Seylan kept HNB tied down by accurate bowling and sharp fielding so much so that the big hitting Avishka Gunawardana required 68 balls to make a top score of 30, and Kumar Dharmasena used up 62 balls for his unbeaten 26.Vaas returned for his late spell to capture two further wickets and finish with the impress figures of four for 19 off 8.5 overs, two of which were maidens. Leg-spinner Suranjith Silva picked up three for 28.Seylan began their chase with an opening stand of 43 between Nuwan Shiroman and Malintha Perera, but faltered when they lost three wickets for eight runs to the spin of Dharmasena and Sajeeva Weerakoon.However, Jayawardene who has shown excellent form in the tournament and Naveed Nawaz put the issue beyond doubt when they figured in an unfinished fourth wicket partnership of 94 to see Seylan through.Jayawardene raced to a splendid half-century and finished undefeated on 60 scored off 56 balls with seven fours and a six. Nawaz was unbeaten on 29.JANASHAKTHI REQUEST A REPLAYJanashakthi has requested the Mercantile CA for a replay of their match against E-wis which was abandoned without a ball bowled due to unsuitable grounds conditions at Bloomfield on Tuesday.The result deprived Janashakthi from qualifying for the knockout round of the competition where only the top four teams are considered.According to the current standings Seylan Bank, Hatton National Bank, Access Group and John Keells have qualified to play in the knockout which commences on June 16 with the final scheduled for June 24.

West Brom have not been shy when it comes to cashing in on some of their key players over the years in numerous transfer windows, such as Jay Rodriguez, Matheus Pereira, Craig Dawson and Nacer Chadli among others.

One other player for whom the Baggies reaped a significant transfer income is Salomon Rondon after they sold him to Chinese club Dalian Yifang in 2019 for a fee believed to be near his £16.5m release clause.

During his time at The Hawthorns, the Venezuelan racked up 28 goals and 10 assists in 120 appearances across all competitions after they had signed him from Zenit St Petersburg for a then club-record fee of around £12m.

In China, the striker netted 14 goals and provided seven assists in just 28 games but was then moved out on loan to CSKA Moscow in February last year. With 13 games in Russia under his belt, the 32-year-old scored just four goals and delivered two assists before eventually returning to China.

The former Baggies star was on the move again last summer after the Chinese club ended their association with Rondon, which led to the striker returning to England, this time on a free transfer to Everton.

Since then, the well-travelled 32-year-old, who is currently picking up £43k-per-week at Goodison Park according to Salary Sport, has found regular game-time hard to come by, having started just 11 of his 17 appearances across all competitions and scoring only three goals in the process.

At this moment in time, Transfermarkt has the centre-forward’s overall market value listed as £3.6m, which is a significant 78% decrease from the fee that the Midlands club picked up for him back in 2019.

Taking all this into account, it seems as though Luke Dowling made the right call by selling the Venezuelan striker when he did.

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Looking ahead, with the Merseyside club still in danger of being relegated, there’s every possibility that the Baggies could be facing off against their former striker should the Toffees end up failing to avoid the drop to the Championship for next season.

In other news: Bruce could unearth WBA’s next Bartley in 19 y/o prodigy who “leads by example”

	Chris Cairns: “You have Australia, India and England earning well but even then how long can someone like Kevin Pietersen turn down £600,000 for 40 days’ work?” ©Cricinfo Ltd

Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, says the ICC needs to step in soon before players from countries like New Zealand and West Indies opt en masse for the lucrative contracts in the the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) over the contracts with their home boards.New Zealand are already reeling from the impact of the exodus, with players like Craig McMillan, Shane Bond and Lou Vincent joining Cairns, who had already retired from international cricket, in the ICL. Presently, a player joining the ICL is potentially banned from playing for his country, and also first-class cricket.”New Zealand is going to be susceptible to that because of our pay structure,” Cairns told Bigstarcricket.com. “If there was a 10% discrepancy or even 20% discrepancy between what you could earn playing over in India against your yearly wage [in New Zealand] then players would consider staying,” he said. “But when you are talking a 200% difference, no person in their right mind could turn that down – that’s the reality.”Cairns has called upon the ICC to create a window for the ICL and the IPL, besides revoking the bans on players joining the ICL. “The ICC are going to have to fix this – it is not a New Zealand Cricket issue, it’s an ICC issue. I just hope that they create a window for players to be able to do it [play ICL and not be banned] – ICL and IPL,” Cairns said. “West Indies will have this problem too, any country in fact where players are not that well remunerated.”You have Australia, India and England earning well but even then how long can someone like Kevin Pietersen turn down £600,000 for 40 days’ work? These are the dilemmas that are going to start to happen, though we might not see it for a year’s time until everybody comes off contract with their national boards.”New Zealand Cricket had recently announced a pay rise for its contracted players in a bid to prevent more players from being lured by the hefty sums waiting to be earned in India.